Gorgeous Istrian landscapes, with endless sea vistas and soft hills shrouded by clouds filled with century-old vineyards and olive groves, orchards and forests, make this piece of land a garden of paradise. However, Istria hides a secret, mystical and, above all, extremely rich subterranean area under its magnificent surface.

Tuber, the Latin name for truffle, is an Istrian underground treasure that the Romans found and used in their diet two thousand years ago, highly valuing it for its aphrodisiac properties. However, interest in these "edible diamonds" has not waned throughout history.

Dense Istrian oak forests and moist, grey soil provide ideal conditions for growing truffles, black in the hills, while the most valuable, the white ones, can be found in the valleys. Tuber Magnatum Pico or white truffle is the most prestigious underground mushroom, and its largest specimen was found in Istria.

That particular Tuesday, November 2, 1999, Giancarlo Zigante went truffle hunting as he had done many times before. His faithful dog Diana was with him, but what she found exceeded all his expectations. On that day, not far from Buje, Diana discovered a white truffle weighing 1.31 kilograms - a truffle that entered the Guinness Book of Records as the largest truffle ever found in the world!

Zigante named his gem "Millennium" and had an exact copy of it cast in bronze, before preparing it as the main course for a feast attended by around a hundred guests. Zigante's white truffle could have reached the price of gold on the market, but it was prepared and consumed precisely in Istria, where it was found, in order to celebrate the world record, but also to recognize Istria as the world centre of truffles.

The bronze replica can be seen exposed in the Zigante truffle store in Livade where visitors can admire the incredible discovery.